The game's plot is mostly the same as the original, though in contrast to AGD's previous remake of The Quest for the Crown, which was a very straight remake, this version significantly expands on the original game, especially in the story department. Graham, now king of Daventry, has recently come to a realization; without a proper queen by his side to produce potential heirs, his legacy as king will be quite short. The Magic Mirror he retrieved from the first game reflects an image a beautiful maiden from the land of Kolyma named Valanice, who is trapped in a quartz tower by the evil witch Hagatha. Graham dons his adventurer's cap once more and resolves to rescue her.
You can download the game here.
The Fan Remake provides examples of:
- Adaptational Villainy:
- Prime Minister Gervain originated in the King's Quest Companion, where he was an Honest Advisor to Graham. Here, he's merely a disguise used by The Father.
- The dwarf. The original game has him merely mug you and steal a treasure (which you can steal back). In this version, he will murder Graham any chance he gets. Especially if Graham gets caught in one of his nefarious traps.Dwarf: (after catching Graham) Oh! Marvelous! What a catch!
(draws a knife)
Dwarf: I feel like a bit of target practice.
(throws knife at Graham, killing him) - In the original game, the monk in the monastery is thoroughly good, to the point where trying to harm him gets you instakilled for being too evil for the game. The monastery's monks are far less benevolent in this version, where they're evil werewolves that you have to fight to progress.
- The shopkeeper in the original game is nothing but kind and helpful, rewarding you with a magic lamp containing a friendly genie when you rescue her pet nightingale from Hagatha. In this version, she cheats you by giving you an empty lamp, and is secretly a witch with ties to Hagatha who only wants the nightingale as an ingredient for her youth potion.
- Affably Evil: Caldaur, though later he does a full Heel–Face Turn.
- Alucard: Almost. It's Count Caldaur.
- Anti-Magic: That's what the enchanted emerald does, which is vital to free the pegasus, reveal the bridle, release the lion, and awaken Valanice.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: The Sharkees are a mean-looking race of beings with shark heads and tails along with muscular arms and torsos. One look at their king reminded Graham to stay well hidden.
- Award-Bait Song: "When I Saw You".
- Beard of Evil: The dwarf has a white beard and is a dirty thief.
- Beware the Nice Ones: You know that sweet old lady who runs the antique store? In this version, she's a secret magic user, willing to sacrifice a sweet little bird so she can be young again. Fortunately, Hagatha kills her.
- Big Bad: This time, Hagatha is your primary antagonist.
- Big Bad Wannabe: The Brotherhood of the Pack can be seen as this.
- Big "WHAT?!": The Father isn't too pleased when the Count is leaving the Black Cloak Society.The Father: He... did... WHAT?!
- Black Cloak: Standard attire for any who joins the Black Cloak Society. The Father wears one to conceal his face.
- Blamed for Being Railroaded: There's an instance of Graham telling an NPC he doesn't have any money, them asking back who sets out on a long journey with no money or supplies, and the narrator saying they have a good point. This remake goes along with the original version's scheme of refering to the player's character as "you" instead of as "Graham", making it come off as if it was something the player should've thought of when they almost definitely would've. note
- Brick Joke:
- In Count Caldaur's Castle, there are chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. One of the messages when you talk to them is, "That's it! You have to get some of these for your own castle!" and, sure enough, in King's Quest III, if you look at the Daventry Throne Room at the ending cutscenes, there are chandeliers just like Caldaur's hanging from the ceiling!
- Likewise, after witnessing the monks transform into werewolves on the full moon, the narrator points out "You're not getting married in THAT church." Sure enough, you get married in Caldaur's castle.
- Call-Back: There's a few to the first game. For one, attempting to push Hagatha into her cauldron will only get you killed, with the death message saying "Did you really think that tactic was going to work a second time?".
- Call-Forward: The game contains a few to later King's Quest games, as well as one to an event later in the game itself: During the second Air Gem test, attempting to attack the Father will result in him saying "Did you think I'd come unprepared this time?", referring to the fact that Graham punches the Father out during the game's ending.
- In the ending, this is done by the Father as he effectively lays the foundations for the future games in his thrice over curse. The first being Graham's children in danger as shown in King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human. The second is the cause of Graham's sudden illness in Kings Quest IV The Perils Of Rosella that Rosella sets out to cure. Finally the last refers to the fact that Alexander's marriage shown in Kings Quest VI Heir Today Gone Tomorrow will not have him rule over Daventry. While Rosella and Edgar's relationship in the status isn't quite confirmed, the fact that Edgar is prince of Eternia would likely cause something similar if their courtship panned out to them marrying.
- The Cameo: The hero in his Quest for Glory II costume, a reference to AGD's VGA remake of said game, which the narrator takes his time to plug (replacing the original version's hidden commercial for Space Quest).
- Cat Folk: Hagatha is defeated by being given a tainted youth potion that turns her into a hairy cat-person.
- Chaos Architecture: Subverted; there are natural boundaries around the entire map.
- Comically Missing the Point: The King of the Sharkees knows that King Neptune's trident is powered by "good will". As he has the greatest will in his kingdom, it should be easy for him to use it. The fact that it refuses to work frustrates him to no end.
- Cooked to Death: Getting caught in Hagatha's lair ends with Graham getting thrown into her cauldron as an ingredient for her youth potion and being boiled alive as a result. The game also gives Graham the option to try to knock Hagatha into her cauldron much like the witch in the first game. This time, however, it fails, with the death message teasing him for thinking it would work a second time.
- Cool Sword: Graham starts the game with one. It proves quite useful, in more ways than one.
- Cross-Melting Aura: In the original game, the cross works just fine on Dracula. But if you try it on Caldaur in this remake, he'll kiss it and say "God bless Kolyma". (This may have a little something to do with the fact that the monk you got it from is evil now... Or a hint that the Count isn’t as evil as he seems.)
- Curse: The ending of this remake. Also a Call-Forward to later games.
- Curse Cut Short:
- Given the exact form it takes, also qualifies as a variant Last-Second Word Swap.
- Death by Materialism: Try to take the Sharkees' treasure and they'll eat you for breakfast.
- Dem Bones: While the ferryman is referred to as a ghoul, he looks more skeletal and doesn't crave for human flesh.
- Demonic Possession: A talk with Caldaur will reveal that this is the reason why the monks are now Werewolves, due to a meeting with the Spirits of the Wild in the depths of Vierwood Forest.
- Depraved Dwarf: That dwarf, who will murder Graham with a well-thrown dagger if he ever finds him, for the sake of "target practice".
- Discontinuity Nod: Towards Mask of Eternity's Contested Sequel status. The final Air Gem test takes place after the events of Mask of Eternity, with Graham and Connor making their way to the castle to honor Connor for saving Daventry. You then have to make a decision to either appoint Connor as next-in-line for the throne or send him back to his village. Choosing either will give you the same amount of points.
- Disney Villain Death: Hagatha. However, you never hear her hitting the bottom. Though that's subverted as not only does she show up at the wedding, just like in the original, but a letter to Manannan from Lolotte in the third game's remake states that she is "still missing". It is possible that since Hagatha not only failed to kill king Graham but also inadvertently revealed to him that His most trusted Advisor is the very same man who wants him killed, since she thought she would kill Graham but he defeated her thus Graham now knew who the Father really was, and possibly jeopardizing the Father's plans, that the Father killed Hagatha with his magic in such a way that her body would be gone without a trace meaning not even her bones or teeth were left behind. After all if you can't find a body you can't confirm a person's death and it makes it where she would still seem to be missing to the rest of the other members of the Father's Evil Cult.
- Easter Egg: Kept some of the ones from the original game (like the Batmobile driving into Hagatha's cave), but they replaced the hidden Space Quest trailer with a teaser for their own updated remake of Quest for Glory II.
- Everything's Deader with Zombies: Trust us, it's very unwise to dig up the wrong tomb…
- Evil Chancellor: "I take it you found your journey through Kolyma void of peril or incident-" Interrupted as Graham clocks him.
- Evil Sounds Deep: The King of the Sharkees, also the Abbot as he turns into a werewolf.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: Being devoured by a shark-man, poisoned by swamp-water, boiled alive by a witch, mauled by wolves, dragged underground by an angry zombie… this remake has plenty of these.
- Fantastic Racism: A mild example; at one point you wonder if all dwarves are as greedy as the one you encounter.
- A Fate Worse Than Death: After you recover the Tiara for Caldaur, he mentions that he used his powers to trap the survivors of the Brotherhood of the Pack in his swamp, where they'll wander aimlessly through the trees forever. He may release them one day, should he feel merciful.
- The Final Temptation: The second Air Gem test, where The Father tempts Graham with saving Daventry in exchange for the crown. The answer is not to surrender.
- Forced Transformation:
- Towards the end of the game, the lion at the tower door turns out to be Hagatha's ex-boyfriend. You also pull this on Hagatha herself by stuffing fur into the youth potion.
- If you're caught by the unnamed sorcerer in the forest he'll turn you into a beast.
- Once you have Neptune's trident, you can turn the Sharkees into small harmless fish.
- Foreshadowing: Manannan's letter to Hagatha, which Graham loses after acquiring the Air Gem. Also the "Item" the Father is looking for and mentioned several times, which appears in the AGD remake of the sequel.
- The second Air Gem test again is this. It outright welds into the conclusion of King's Quest III, suggesting that King Graham will really live through this dilemma just before Alexander comes home.
- Fountain of Youth: The youth potion, while it would make Hagatha a reasonable young age, if drunk by Graham on the other hand, he will be transformed into a baby. Trying to use it on certain other people also yields certain unique sentences, but no penalties.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Caldaur, Lavidia, and Anastasia, who are grateful to Graham for "reuniting" them and help him on his quest, and retake the rule of Kolyma to the approval of the citizens.
- Fur Against Fang: The Monks are actually werewolves, who want to wipe out the Count's family and take control of Kolyma. Incidentally, they also sent the dire bat which killed Caldaur and turned him into an undead.
- Genie in a Bottle: While claimed to be in a lamp, he really disappeared earler. A note was left instead, showing the location of the shop's secret room.
- Godiva Hair: Male example; if you use the emerald on the large lion outside of Valanice's room, he'll turn into a gaunt naked old man, with his long beard covering his privates.
- Grave Humor: The tombstones in Kolyma's graveyard and the castle cemetery are filled with those.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Hagatha is surely bad, but The Father is behind her.
- I Can Explain: Angelina tries to explain why she has Hagatha's nightingale in her possession. It doesn't work.
- I'll Never Tell You What I'm Telling You!: When Graham tries to ask about the other members of the town library, the librarian refuses and says that neither the Count of Kolyma nor the old man next door would approve of her divulging their identities.
- Immortality Begins at Twenty: When Lavidia and Anastasia become vampires, they magically become rather shapely 20-30 somethings, rather than retain their natural ages. Anastasia is actually between 18-30 if one calculates the date when she was born according to the game. No explanation why she looks younger as a human. Despite that, the game still calls Possum a "Child" and "little girl".
- I Was Quite a Looker: Hagatha.
- Also Granny/Lavidia after becoming a perpetually youthful vampire.
- Jerkass: Many, including the librarian, Hagatha, the Dwarf, and the unnamed sorcerer.
- Kiss of Life: The mermaid gives one to Graham, allowing him to breathe underwater.
- Kleptomaniac Hero: Any attempts by the player will be averted and lampshaded by the Lemony Narrator.
- Knights and Knaves: The two lions at the base of the Quartz Tower. If you speak to them, they'll tell you what their partner would tell you if you asked him if he knows the way in and then reveal the combo to the door. The one on the left lies.
- Land, Sea, Sky: The three gems: the first symbolizes Birth and is found in the ocean. The second stands for Growth and is kept by a sentient cloud spirit in the sky. The last one symbolizes Death, and despite being referred to as "Dark Gem", can stand as the gem of Earth, since it's found in the middle of a marsh, in the bowels of a stone castle.
- Last Note Hilarity: For the sillier deaths, you'll get the usual "funeral march" music, except the last note is replaced with a lighthearted comedic ditty, which is also what the original version always did with its deaths.
- MacGuffin: The Three Stones of Nature. (Birth, Growth, and Death.)
- Made of Explodium: There are a series of stones in one screen which will detonate if exposed to the dispelling emerald.
- Moment Killer: You kiss Valanice and Hagatha shows up before you're even finished kissing.
- Neck Lift: Caldaur does this to Graham, making his much-foreshadowed first appearance even more of an Oh, Crap! moment.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The monks wanted to dispose of Caldaur and his family for years. So what do they do? Send a vampire bat after him, which in turn made him a vampire, making him immortal.
- Non-Standard Game Over: This remake gives Graham a bunch of other places he can use the door to go besides the island where he rescues Valanice. They're all obviously the wrong thing to do, and are pretty much included just to let players deliberately experience these.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Both the merchant in the town (Asian Store-Owner to Cockney and the talking pumpkin mother (between Brooklyn and Cockney again) do this, although the pumpkin might be accidental...
- Oh, Crap!:
- The Sorcerer's reaction if you happen to have in possession the magical emerald which protects you from magic. Mostly because you're pointing a sword at his throat.
- The Narrator gets this during the tiara quest, when Graham discovers that the coffin of the late Count Christopher Eveer somehow got mixed up with a man named Larmon Odnarb who both died on the same year, meaning that Christopher and the tiara is buried in the church cemetary in Larmon's place, not helping by the fact that the monks of that church are now murderous werewolves. The Narrator elicits a worried "Oh dear!".
- Our Mermaids Are Different: The Merfolk are green-skinned and have the lower body of a fish. However, the females (the one you meet anyway) have caucasian skin.
- Our Vampires Are Different: One of the side effects of being turned into a vampire seems to be maturing or rejuvenating to a physical age around 25. Actually, if you do the math on the dates, she already is 25 by the time of the game. The question may be asked why she looked so young as a human.
- Pixel Hunt: The bookshelf puzzle where you have to find various classic literature pieces. Also picking the wrong book is lethal.
- Please Spare Him, My Liege!: The correct answer to the first Air Gem test.
- Press X to Die: Drink the youth potion, touch the silver needle after it has been dipped in poisonous water...
- Pun: King Neptune is guilty of a bad one when he's informing Graham about the Air Gem. The narrator blames the wine for that.Neptune: "You might say that Air is not exactly my element..."Narrator: "You guess that the beverages consumed were to blame for that one."
- Red Riding Hood Replica: While the original game uses the actual Little Red Riding Hood, this remake replaces her with a girl named Possum. She still wears a red cloak and still has to deliver soup to her grandmother, only now the grandmother is dying and they both get turned into vampires.
- Save-Game Limits: There's an arbitrary limit to the number of saves, considering that the game is still implementing the save frequently paradigm.
- Scary Librarian: She's rude, she isn't very helpful, the library is impossible to navigate without her. And you have to bluff in order to pass.
- Secret Test of Character: The Cloud Spirit Tests.
- Shark Man: The Sharkees have the lower body of a shark while their upper body is humanoid while still retaining shark-like features.
- She Is All Grown Up: Possum when she becomes Anastasia. Do the math on timeline dates and one finds out she was born between 18-30 years before the game.
- Shout-Out:
- The game is loaded with them. Not just to the future King's Quest games, but to Space Quest, Laura Bow, Leisure Suit Larry, Quest for Glory, EcoQuest, and even Star Wars.
- And then of course there's the title, which in both the original and the remake homages Romancing the Stone.
- This remake even gives a Title Drop, although Graham is Late to the Punchline.
- The name of the genie (as seen in the note) is a Significant Anagram of Robin Williams, who's famous for playing a genie himself.
- Later, upon finding a magic carpet, Graham will notice a tag on it that reads "Property of Al din".Narrator: There might be a faded letter or two, but you can't be sure.
- Later, upon finding a magic carpet, Graham will notice a tag on it that reads "Property of Al din".
- Batman shows up at your wedding. (Likely solely to justify the Hagatha's Cave easter egg, after all, "Everyone in Kolyma was invited".)
- The church's opening hours are "From dusk 'til dawn".
- Once you've opened the Door of Destiny, you're supposed to go to the Tower Realm, but you can also choose to go to the Galactic Realm, Metro Realm, Past Realm, Lizard Realm, or Future Realm, which drop you in a different adventure game.
- One random book in the town library is titled Icebergs and unsinkable ships.
- If you try to take the knife in Dwarf's house, the narrator will say: "That's not a knife. Now the knife you found under a rock, now THAT'S a knife." Obviously taken from "Crocodile" Dundee.
- In this version, attempting to talk to your seahorse in the underwater segment will cause the narrator to quip "You'd never speak to a horse, of course". The same response is also given, when attempting to talk to the horse in the town.
- Sinister Minister: The werewolf monk who plans to keep the land under ignorance and fear.
- Someday This Will Come in Handy: The Annual Book of General Knowledge was clearly written by somebody who epitomised this trope.
- Swamps Are Evil: So much that even touching the water will kill you. Luckily, the poison works just fine against werewolves.
- Take That!:
- The books in the library contains a few of these along with normal Shout Outs:
- How Not to Turn a Book Into a Film (see 'Dune')
- Chronicling The Longest Journey (or How to Sustain A Compelling Story When Your Lead Character Sounds Like An Airhead)
- Chronicles of The Brady Bunch (which comes with a warning label reading "Warning: Prolonged exposure to this book may cause irreparable damage to your perception of reality")
- The Big Book of British Smiles (which also doubles as a Simpsons reference)
- When Graham is tasked with finding a tiara for Count Caldaur, he internally hopes that this doesn't mean he'll spend all night dodging zombies while digging up graves.
- And of course, the Easter Egg in the Air Gem test sees Graham channeling the fandom and attempting to kill Cedric.
- The books in the library contains a few of these along with normal Shout Outs:
- Threatening Sharks: The Sharkees. Subverted with the regular sharks you can stumble into, who ignore you.
- Title Drop: When Graham explains the goal of his quest. Lavidia then utters "Romancing the Stones". She and the Count chuckle about it, while Graham is confused and didn't get the joke.
- Trivially Obvious: King Graham's reaction to the Merchant's wares:King Graham: You seem to have quite a selection of... well... quite a selection!
- Too Dumb to Live: Hagatha sends a letter to Angelina (the antique dealer, who is also a witch, and Hagatha even vouched for her joining her organization of spellcasters) bragging that she has a nightingale, which is the final ingredient for a youth potion. Angelina decides to use Graham to steal the bird from her in order to keep the potion all to herself. Hagatha deduces immediately that she was obviously behind the theft and kills her.
- The Unreveal: You will never find out who or what was hiding in the haystack (besides a needle).
- Unexpected Gameplay Change: There's an arcade sequence where you have to flee from Sharkees, although skippable
- Updated Re-release: The initial release didn't have voice acting which was added later. All the portraits were redone and a minor change was made to one puzzle.
- Vain Sorceress: Hagatha is obsessed with making a youth potion to restore her beauty. She is defeated by being given the youth potion, which has been tainted so she will grow cat hair, which distracts her for long enough to blind her using the mirror and make her stumble off the tower.
- Vampire Monarch: Caldaur is the rightful ruler of Kolyma, and he's definitely a vampire. His wife suspected he was practicing magic, but never knew for sure. The magic part? He was indeed a member of the Black Cloak society, though nothing points to him being evil like most of its members. He formally breaks his association with it by assisting Graham, which pisses The Father off. As far as his being a vampire It had nothing to do with his magic or anything evil on his part. Caldur was turned into a vampire by his political enemies, the priests who opposed his reforms. The priests made a pact with forest spirits and became the werewolves. At the end, he asks the people of Kolyma if they accept him back, even in his undead state, and the people welcome him back.
- Vampire Vords: Caldaur is your classic Bela Lugosi vampire.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: Caldaur, Lavidia, and Anastasia are all very attractive. The latter freaks Graham out a little, given that last time he saw her, she was just a little girl.
- What the Hell, Player?: The narrator sometimes chews you out mildly for attempting to do certain things (like touching yourself), but he gets especially mad when you try to use the sword on Valanice.Narrator: Are you out of your gourd?! I thought you wanted to win this game! Don't ever try that again!
- Wicked Witch: Hagatha fills all the requirements to be a wicked witch, except for the pointy hat and flying broom parts.
- Witch with a Capital "B": Invoked, Lampshaded, and Averted within three seconds. See Curse Cut Short.
- Yes-Man: The Sharkees simply nod and agree to all of their' king's rants.
- You Need to Get Laid: This appears to be at least a secondary concern of Graham's in the opening sequence.
